Skywatch Friday ~ April 14, 2023

Hello friends and fellows bloggers,

I hope you've had a great week!

Those of you who've been following my blog know that we've had a long winter and a cold Spring so far with lots of rain. It is still a bit too cool for the norm but the sun is beginning to shine more frequently and I think from here on out we are well on our way to warmer, sunnier weather.

The photos which follow were taken on Easter Sunday on my way to church. I'd been hoping to get some cherry blossom photos during days of sunshine but if I don't get out in the next few days there may not be anything to photograph! Cherry blossoms are so fleeting.  I did manage to get some pictures of cherry blossoms and magnolias in bloom. Hopefully I can get more on a sunny day.
 

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday. Thank you for stopping by!

Tuesday 4 ~ Your Town

Friday, April 7, 2023

Your Town

Hello!  This is Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we ask just 4 questions each week in an effort to get you blogging, thinking and learning about others.

Maybe we can discuss the town  you live in.  It might be nice to find out more about where you live and why you live there. Sometimes we just fall into a place and other times we choose. 

Michelle Byrne painting

1. What are the good points to living in your town? Could you interest us in moving there?

There are many great things about my city. I think top of the list is the spectacular scenery,  but there is also a good variety of arts and entertainment, public services and transport and lots of parks and touristy places nearby to visit if you can get there and have the time, money or interest.

Most people love it here though I've noticed young people from China think it's very boring. Our city is very small compared to most of the cities in China. If you come from Europe and prefer old, historic buildings, you might be disappointed here because we don't have much of that. I've talked to many visitors to Canada over the years and they are always in awe of our nature, wide open spaces (outside of the city) and wildlife. 

The things we really have going for us are spectacular scenery, lots of green space, walkability and relatively good public transit (at least in the big cities). Unfortunately there are several things making this city and much of Canada not very good places at the moment though I understand nany if these issues are geing experienced in other cities worldwide: the high rate of homelessness and opioid addiction which results in rising crime rates, lack of affordable housing whether for rent or for purchase,  lack of inter-city public transportation and the very high cost of living in general. The recent runaway inflation being experienced around the world has exacerbated many of these issues. I wouldn't advise people to move here unless they already have a place to live. A visit is good but do be prepared for the expense. Though I suppose if you come from Europe our deals may be more affordable to you due to the higher value of the Euro. You will get almost one and a half dollars for 1 Euro right now.

See here and here if you missed some of my recent scenic posts for an idea of what you're missing if you've never visited.

2.  Are the things you need convenient to your home? (shopping, library, schools, entertainment?)

I am very deliberate about where I live so I end up paying more for housing due to living right in the city. For years I didn't have a car and I was always concerned about the time it takes to get to work and whether I could even get to work with a car if unforeseen things were to happen (accidents, storms and so on). Living in the city and closer to things doesn't mean there won't be unforeseen things happening, but it does cut down on some of the lost time that might be involved. I digress. To answer the question, 'yes', I live close to everything. In fact, I can walk to most places I want or need. There is a school or several in the neighbourhood if you have young children, there are several grocery supermarkets within a short walk, there is a library and several gyms and community centres, churches, 

banks, salons, boutique clothing stores, thrift stores, restaurants and so on. I have to go a bit further for entertainment (plays, movies, art exhibitions and sporting events) and usually catch the bus or a friend who lives further away will pick me up so we arrive at the venue  together. 

3.  Did you choose your town or did you just end up there? 

I chose my city for educational advancement. Back in the day, there were not as many accredited universities  (there are many colleges which are more accessible) and you pretty well had to move to a large city for them. One of the cities is on Vancouver Island; the other two are in the Greater Vancouver area. These days there are more universities to choose from. Government realized people need higher education with lower costs and greater accessibility. Also, not everyone wants to live in a larger city like Vancouver and some like people don't want to live on an island, large or small. I stayed in the city due to work opportunities. There simply wasn't, and still aren't, a lot of career opportunities in my field (public policy) in most smaller cities outside of the few large cities we have in the province or in the country.  I also wanted to be reasonably close to my late mom and late sister so I could visit them more frequently.  Otherwise I probably would have pursued opportunities outside of Canada.

4.   Is your town known for any special foods, activities, places or people? 

One of the things I loved about Vancouver when I first arrived is all of the multicultural festivals that occurred. Almost every known immigrant group had a special few days where one could attend to enjoy the sights, music and displays and food. Most of these events were held outdoors and were free except for the food/s.  There are still many festivals.  In fact, many new ones have started up but the old ones have kind of died off or they have changed and they aren't quite as much fun anymore. Maybe it is just me being older and having already experienced these things. I now prefer to go and see the floral displays at botanical gardens or attend a garden show in the park. Besides these activities we are also known for the place people come to go on a cruise up the coast, travel up to Whistler to go skiing (many celebrities come here for that) or as a jump off point to go fishing off the coast or whale watching. I haven't gone on a whale watching tour. I prefer to see them unexpectedly when I'm taking a ferry to the big island or sometimes a pod of whales will even come into the inner harbour and stay a few days.

Skywatch Friday ~ April 7, 2023

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

This is a series of photos depicting the weather and skies in Vancouver, Canada at the moment. It has been quite rainy and cold for most days this month and it looks to continue.

I'm hoping that the weather will warm up so I can get out and take better photos of the cherry blossoms. I'm amazed at how they bloom despite the cold.  They give a lot of enjoyment on otherwise dreary days.
 

 Joining up with Skywatch Friday. Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed Easter.🙏🙏🙏

Beautiful Friday Sky on a Cold Evening

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I keep thinking Spring is around the corner but my hopes keep getting dashed. We had an unexpected bit of snow on Wednesday night and on Saturday we are expecting up to a foot of fresh snow. Knowing that I went out tonight and did a few pressing errands.

Here are some of my night shots.  There seemed to be a lot going on including an explosion that happened at the dinner hour just before I was about to get off one bus in the heart of the city. I heard a lot of sirens after that. Later I learned the sad news that 2 were treated for burns and lacerations due to the fire which they believe was caused by some kind of underground electrical vault fire. My bus had passed the site where the explosion occurred just seconds before hand and some passengers that got on the bus seconds later says there was smoke and balls of fire coming from the side of the building. Roads, buses and skytrain in the vicinity were all closed or affected in some way but I was on my way out of the city before that happened.

Here are some photos I took while I was downtown. I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday. Please join in too.

Thank you for stopping by. Have an awesome weekend.

Skywatch ~ January 20, 2023

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

We've been getting a lot of rain as is the norm here at this time of year. Today was exceptionally wet but I took a walk after the rain slowed a bit. I had to do a few errands. I'm not sure but I think it might be an early spring this year. Time will tell.

My submission is a bit late but I'm joining in with the Skywatch Friday crowd today. Have a wonderful week ahead.

It Snowed!

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

Vancouver has been experiencing a cold snap this past few days and we also had a lot of snow over a few different days. 

Today and yesterday were super cold. I went out Monday and had a good long walk home. On my way back I snapped the baubles on the outdoor trees. I think they look lovely and brighten the otherwise bare branches and gray sky.  We had a fairly large amount of snowfall overnight Sunday so you can see a large amount of snow on the sidewalks.

Monday night the snow began falling again and we woke up to the patio trees and furniture heavy laden.  I didn't go out today because I knew it would be quite chaotic today on the roads and it is hit or miss as to whether the stores are open. In fact I went to a shop in the neighbourhood on Sunday night and when I got there I discovered it had closed an hour early.  This is what many businesses do during times of storm. It helps everyone to get home safely.  I hope to go food shopping on Wednesday because I need to buy groceries for Christmas dinner. 

Stay safe.

🎄🎄🎄

Skywatch Friday Vancouver

 Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

Happy Friday to you all. I hope you are all doing well.

Thursday was a beautiful, sunny day here in Vancouver. I had an appointment downtown and walked back to the main transit station to return home. Along the way I took these photos to share with you.

Vancouver Art Gallery (with red banners) and the Vancouver Hotel just to the left in the photo.

Robson Square in the heart of downtown, UBC downtown campus

View looking south from Robson Square, Vancouver courthouse just beyond the trees in middle

Part of the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel

Adjacent buildings reflected in one of the Wall Centre towers

The Vancouver Courthouse

Nelson Street going east

I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday this week. 

Thank you for stopping by!

Skywatch Friday ~ October Vibes

Site of the new subway station at Broadway & Main

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

We've had record setting temperatures over the fall season but on Friday we are finally expecting some rain.  The other day the meteorologist reported that since July to the present time we have only had 16 mm of rain when the norm would be just over 160 mm of rain. No wonder the tree on my patio died. It had been looking sickly for a few seasons and it has finally succumbed. I'm a bit sad but it's not going to matter much. 

Within the year or so the strata will be uprooting all the patios and is contemplating not having any gardens at all. The weight and growth of them (dirt, plants, roots, water) has the potential to become problematic for the structure of the building. No decisions have been  made yet and there will be a special meeting to discuss all the results and options going forward once a report is ready. I think I would rather confine my gardening to containers on the patio and have a bit more footage to arrange furniture.

In the meantime here are some photos I took of the sky when I was out and about running errands earlier in the week.  I took these photos just as thd light was fading. I thought the ones with the trolley lines set against the sky were quite interesting.  A lot of those lines will be likely be eliminated once the new subway system on the Broadway corridor is running (target is late 2025) but I don't know that for sure.

 

In my reading stack this week I found a wonderful little book called The Birds of East Africa. It is short read of approximately 200 pages and is a sweet little tale set in Nairobi, Kenya. The style is along the lines of Alexander McCall Smith's #1 Ladies Detective Agency books.

I'm now reading the best seller The Distant Hours by Australian writer, Kate Morton. It's an interesting book about family secrets connected to 3 elderly sisters living in an imposing and decaying castle. 

I picked up both of these books at the thrift store on a whim and wasn't expecting much from them but they are both turning out to be satisfying reads.

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I also picked up a set of sheets and pillowcases at the thrift store. I wouldn't have purchased them but they were a good price, minimally used and I like blue and white. This set is by Tommy Hilfiger but strangely they look quite wrinkled even though they are not 100% cotton. I don't iron most things including sheets. By the time they are pulled flat onto the mattress most of the wrinkles will disappear.

Each piece of the 4 piece set was sold individually.  I didn't notice that the two exact same pillowcases had different prices until I got them home.  I'm guessing two different clerks priced them.  I paid about $26 dollars in total for the set. I think the price is okay given what new sheets cost and these appear to be little used.

Have you found any good thrifting deals lately or read any good books?

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday this week. Thank you for stopping by!